Covid infections in Wales fall again as UK-wide figures edge upwards again
Covid infections in Wales have fallen for the sixth week in a row, however the UK-wide figures have risen again fuelled by levels increasing in England after recent falls.
Wales is the only nation to record a fall, according to the latest weekly infection study published by the Office for National Statistics, which described the trend as uncertain in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The ONS estimated that 39,600 were people likely to have Covid in Wales in the week ending 22 November the equivalent of one in 75 people.
This is down 13% from the previous week when 45,400 or one in 65 people had Covid.
The total number of people in private households in the UK testing positive for coronavirus rose to 1.0 million, up 6% from 972,400 the previous week.
October
It is the first increase in UK-wide infections since the week ending October 17 and comes a week after the infection levels dropped below one million for the first time since mid-September.
During the latest Covid wave, the total peaked at just over two million in mid-October.
This is well below the peaks seen earlier in the year, when infections climbed to nearly four million in July and just under five million in March.
The number of people testing positive for coronavirus in England in the week to November 21 was 873,200, or around one in 60 people, up from 809,200 the previous week, or one in 65.
Scotland has seen infections rise to 91,100, or one in 60, up from 83,700, or one in 65, though the ONS said the trend was “uncertain”.
In Northern Ireland the trend is also described by the ONS as “uncertain”, with an estimated 28,900 people having Covid-19, or one in 65, compared with 34,100 in the previous week, which was one in 55.
The ONS infection survey is the most reliable measure of the prevalence of coronavirus and is based on a sample of swab tests from households across the UK.
There is a slight lag in the reporting of the data due to the time it takes for the survey to be compiled.
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The figures are not those who have tested positive. They are an estimation of the number who would be positive IF tested based on a sample of those actually tested.